


love is a game we deserve to play out loud

by aletterinthenameofsanity



Series: even if it costs my life (I won't stop loving you) [9]
Category: Coco (2017)
Genre: Biracial Character, Bittersweet, Character Study, Coming Out, Día de los Muertos | Day of the Dead, F/F, F/M, Family Feels, Gay Male Character, Happy Ending, Hate Crimes, LGBTQ Character of Color, M/M, Musicians, Post-Canon, and so would Imelda, because Hector would love his beautiful gay great great grandson
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-02
Updated: 2018-06-02
Packaged: 2019-05-17 02:23:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14823420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aletterinthenameofsanity/pseuds/aletterinthenameofsanity
Summary: Every Dia de Muertos, without fail, Miguel is at the ofrenda. Come infierno or high water, Miguel takes his one day a year that he can see his more skeletal side of the familia.Miguel is fifteen, and he has his first boyfriend.Miguel is sixteen, and he is crying as he clutches Héctor and Imelda close. His foot is in a cast, and as he whispers out a horror story- about how he had been beaten up by some of the boys, about how they had hated him for loving someone they didn't understand. (Imelda is about ready to commit murder, and Héctor is not far behind.)Miguel is eighteen, and he is whispering conspiratorially with Tia Lefstebany.Miguel is nineteen (and he looks so much like Héctor did at that age Imelda’s heart aches) and he gets discovered by a talent scout at the town bar.Miguel is twenty, and Mama Elena is dead.Miguel is twenty two, and there is a man holding his hand, a gentle orange glow around the stranger’s features. The man looks different than most- his eyes are slightly slanted, his features different than most Mexicans'.And Miguel looks at him with absolute love in his eyes.





	love is a game we deserve to play out loud

**Author's Note:**

> Title is from "Kiss the Boy" by Keiynan Lonsdale because I watched Love, Simon and am dying of emotions.
> 
> Remember that promise to post more? I'm pretty sorry it's been so long since I posted the last installment, especially since it was such a downer. Well, I promise this story, though a bit bittersweet, will have a happy ending. Deal?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Title is from "The World Es Mi Familia" from Coco.

Miguel sees dead people walking through the streets, and he knows that soon enough his _familia_ will appear.

Over the past year he has watched as music has slowly wormed its way into his family's life. His mother hums while making shoes; his father taps a beat with her toes as she heads to the Market. All in all, the last Dia de Muertos changed a lot, and definitely for the better.

With the arrival of noon, Miguel sees skeletons start to appear. Rather than freak out, he grins. All of the dead are surrounded by a soft orange glow, and Miguel is nearly certain that his curse has left one or two beneficial side effects.

Today, when he sees his skeleton _familia_ again, he wants to share with them what he’s been realizing lately. He is thirteen, and there are strange feelings surfacing in him. He isn't fascinated by girls, like other boys his age are. At first he thought it might be just because he is a late bloomer, but one night he fell asleep and dreamed he was kissing not Roberta, but her older brother, 14-year-old Daniel.

He knows- or at least, he has to believe- that Papa Héctor and Mama Imelda will accept him for who he is. _Always remember that your_ familia _loves you,_ right?

Soon enough, his _familia_ begins to arrive. First are Tio Oscar and Tio Felipe, who are babbling about some invention that they're planning on implementing in the shop.

Then, he sees Tia Victoria holding hands with a woman. The woman has her hair braided into a bun at the nape of her neck, with a shirt, pants, and boots on. They are smiling together, pointing at various things and trading comments in each others’ ears. Miguel smiles faintly at the sight- it’s nice that the cool-headed Tia Victoria has a _mejor amiga_.

Next come Mama Coco and Papa Julio, hand in hand. Despite the anxiety building up in his _corazon,_ Miguel smiles at his grandparents’ happiness. His Mama Coco’s memories have been fading for so long, to see her active and joyous makes him so happy.

Tia Rosita walks through, investigating children's trinkets and the normal world's _Alebrijes._ Miguel notices her humming, notices how she dances. It looks like music ban has been lifted in both worlds, not just his, and he's happy that Mama Imelda has forgiven Papa Héctor enough to allow _musica_ back in the _familia_.

Then Papa Héctor and Mama Imelda arrive last of all, and Miguel’s breath lodges in his throat. They are the ones he cares the most about. Mama Imelda, the family matriarch, the strongest woman Miguel has ever met, and, of course, Papa Héctor is the man who showed him how to play in public, who showed him how to _grito_ , who sacrificed himself for Miguel.

But most importantly-

“Papa Héctor,” Miguel whispers as he arrives in the room, “You’re _alive_!”

Héctor grins. “ _Si, chamaco."_

“ _Fantastico_!” Miguel shouts, and wraps him in a hug. His skeletal form feels so strange against Miguel’s living body, with a weird tingling sensation passing across Miguel’s skin as their worlds collide, but it isn't too weird. Héctor’s skeleton is warm, like a body, and smooth. His new shoes and shirt certainly makes him feel more human.

Then Miguel leans back, reminded of what he needs to say. “I have something to tell you guys,” Miguel says, “Something _muy importante._ ”

Mama Imelda smiles indulgently, in a way he never thought he'd see. It's strange to see her look so soft, so welcoming. From what he saw of her in the Land of the Dead, Mama Imelda seems to be made of hard angles and stony expressions. Such a fond expression seems rather strange on her. “Tell us, _mijo._ ”

“Papa Héctor, Mama Imelda,” Miguel says, stomach threatening to fall out from underneath him. “I'm gay.”

Mama Imelda and Papa Héctor blink. “ _Chamaco_ ,” Héctor says, “Is that all?” Miguel blinks up at him in surprise, and Héctor asks, “You didn’t kill a man, did you?” Miguel shakes his head vigorously, shocked that Héctor can even joke about that. “Then what are you worried about?”

“I thought- I mean…” Miguel swallows. “You’re from 1900 and something, Papa Héctor. How could I have thought you’d say anything else?”

“What about your Tia?” Imelda asks, and Miguel’s brow furrows. What?

At his confused expression, Héctor explains: “That lady by your Tia Victoria? That’s her _novia,_ Lefstebany. Back in Shantytown, _muchos de mis amigos_ were Forgotten because of their homosexuality. I _never_ want any of my family to go through the same thing.”

 _Oh._ Well, then.

“So, on that note-" Héctor says, “You going to sing tonight, _chamaco_?” Héctor asks, and Miguel shrugs.

“I was hoping to, but I don't know. They might think that I'm disrespecting your wishes, Mama Imelda. Do you think it's too soon?”

“Miguel, _we_ would love it if you sang for Dia de Muertos,” Mama Imelda says.

Miguel’s jaw drops. “Really? But you hate music-"

Mama Imelda smiles softly. “It's been a long, painful _año_ , Miguel, but a lot has changed.”

Héctor snorts softly. “That's saying something, _querida._ ”

Miguel spots something shining on her hand. “You're wearing a wedding ring, Mama Imelda!”

“Like I said,” she says, smirk sharpening her expression, “It's been a long  _año_.”

Miguel swallows, staring at the ring. He knows there are things signified by that ring that he can't begin to understand. He kind of hopes to, though, someday.

Héctor grins. “But back to the _musico, chamaco-_ I think I have just the song for you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second half will be more of a time skip thing, covering a long timespan.


End file.
